Birding is one of the most popular past times in the world. The participants range from professional observers to hobbyists who will spend a day or more looking for different types of birds in the wild. Many bird enthusiasts will also feed birds at home hoping to attract certain types of birds. As a result, there are many bird feeders which are commercially available.
One problem which occurs when feeding birds is to find a way to prevent the presence of undesired animals and in particular, squirrels. Many different proposals exist in the art for squirrel resistant bird feeders and many different approaches have been taken. These approaches range from the use of baffles on a pole to a greased pole to prevent the squirrel climbing to the feeder. Other approaches have consisted of conceding that the squirrel will get to the bird feeder, but to design the feeder to be squirrel resistant such that the squirrels cannot access the feed contained therein and will eventually become discouraged. The mechanisms used for the feeder have ranged from bird feeders which will spin to throw the squirrel off the feeder to those utilizing shrouds which extend about a feed tube and which shroud will selectively permit or not permit access to the food. Typically, the shroud will move depending upon the weight placed thereon.
One of the simpler and more popular type of bird feeders are what is called a hopper type feeder. Generally, such feeders consist of a base, a pair of end walls, a pair of side walls which are spaced inwardly and upwardly from the base and a cover. To use, the cover is removed and seed is placed within a seed cavity defined by the side and end walls, the seed being permitted to go under the side walls such that access may be had, to the feed by the birds. However, this easy access also permits the squirrels to access the feed.
Typically, hopper-type bird feeders are formed of a wood material with plastic being used for specific portions thereof such as transparent walls which define a portion of the hopper. Typically, the transparent walls are angled inwardly and are spaced from the base of the feeder. They are thus easily accessible to squirrels and other marauders who will chew the walls to gain freer access to the feed.